The adventure started before even leaving Belgium. Our flight was delayed, putting our boarding time at 10:30pm. Eventually 10:40 rolls around and a rush boarding process is started. It is announced that Charleroi Airport closes at 11pm and we had to be in the air before that. No one said what would happen if we weren't in the air by that time. You can't ask questions, you can only sigh and say "ah, Belgium." We made it though. Barely. My watch said 10:58pm when the wheels of the plane lifted off the ground.
We arrive at Skavsta airport. We didn’t have a place to stay in Stockholm, so we were just going to hang out at the airport and then take the bus first thing in the morning, check into our hostel and take a nap. Of course it did not work out that way. I discovered at 4am that we read the bus schedule wrong. The schedule posted was for buses leaving Stockholm and coming to the airport. The buses going the other direction leave a half an hour following every flight. The next flight landing in Skavsta was not until 9:45am. Andrew and I did not leave the airport until 10:10am, arriving at Stockholm Central Station at 11:30am. No time for a nap.
It didn’t take us long to find our hostel since it was the only bright red boat on Mälaren Lake. Right away at check in, we were in love with Sweden. Our hostel was welcoming and unique and the woman working the front desk was friendly and she spoke English better than us. Two things you never see in Belgium. This friendly woman directed us to a wonderful restaurant for lunch. This restaurant was so good that we ate there twice in our three days.
In the afternoon, the tours of Stockholm began. I had put Andrew in charge of determining what we would see since this trip was his idea. Tuesday afternoon we visited the Royal Palace and the Nobel Museum. I don’t think I have every found a museum as interesting as this one. It was technologically interactive. It was easy to spend as much or as little time there as one wanted.
Wednesday after breakfast we were off to the military museum. This museum went through the history of Swedish military efforts since the beginning. Overall, it was a well laid out museum that the history buff adored. After that, and lunch at a Chinese buffet, we were off to Skansen. Skansen reminded me of a place like Old Wisconsin. It was an outdoor museum with a collection of different buildings from around Sweden. They also had a mini-zoo showcasing animals in Sweden. Since it was below freezing, there were not a lot of re-enactors working or buildings open. It struck me as a place that would be awesome in the summer. Since much of it was closed off; the highlight of Scansen was the animals. We saw otters, wolverines, and moose. Our next stop was the Vasa Museum, located on the same island as Skansen. The Vasa is a ship. The Vasa museum is an entire museum dedicated to this ship. This ship sailed less than a kilometer on its maiden voyage before she sank around 300 years ago. In the 1950’s , they were able to bring her up. It sounds weird, but it actually was very interesting, and definitely different.
Thursday was our departure day. We walked around Stockholm, taking in the sights, freezing our butts off one last time before flying back to the warmer yet less friendly country of Belgium. Stockholm, Sweden is definitely worth the visit. If you go in the winter, it isn’t crowded, but I bet it would be beautiful and easier to get around in the summer. It’s your call.
